Rites of Spring Retrospective

You Were This Young Once. It’s a Wonder You Survived.

You may, if you’re an alumnus of a certain age, recall the very first . You may, in those early years, have competed in the Best Legs competition or won the cigarette-rolling contest. Or perhaps your dog triumphed in the stupid pet tricks contest. And if you came of age when the drinking age was only 18, you may even remember free kegs of beer on Alumni Lawn.

If you came along a bit later, when the focus at Rites of Spring became nonstop music, perhaps you were there for that memorable performance by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Or you danced, if you could call it that, to the Dave Matthews Band or Hootie & the Blowfish.

Then, somehow, as the years slipped by and waitresses starting calling you “ma’am” or “sir,” around the time you started taking a statin for your cholesterol, you looked at the current Rites of Spring lineup and didn’t recognize a single band. Fitz and the Tantrums? 2 Chainz? Friendly Savages? Whatever happened to Livingston Taylor?



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